The joint venture, one of the largest ever in the petrochemical field in China, will also receive investment from China's number one petrochemical producer Sinopec and Exxon Mobile, the China Daily said.

Once completed, the joint venture, to be located in Fujian province near Taiwan, will produce 600,000 tons of ethylene every year, the paper said. Sinopec will control half of the joint venture while Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil will share the rest, the paper said.

Saudi Aramco is one of China's major crude oil suppliers and intends to expand that role in the future, according to the report. China has been a net importer of oil since 1993, and last year foreign oil accounted for about 22 percent of the country's total domestic consumption. ― (AFP, Beijing)